[SatNews] The selection has been made as to the initial launch partner for new maritime satellite terminals.

Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT) selected Cobham plc as the initial launch partner for the forthcoming Global Xpress service. Sea Tel, a subsidiary of Cobham, has been awarded contracts to develop, manufacture, test and distribute Global Xpress maritime satellite terminals. As initial launch partner, Sea Tel will ensure availability of Global Xpress maritime satellite terminals at service introduction planned for 2013. Sea Tel will develop a new terminal specifically designed for operation in the Ka-band and will use a new Core Module developed by VT iDirect (iDirect). Working together, iDirect’s Core Module and Sea Tel’s Marine Terminal will provide state-of-the-art capabilities fully consistent with the Global Xpress objective of delivering up to 50Mbps downlink speeds to 60cm aperture terminals. As part of this contract, Sea Tel will distribute the new terminals and provide training and support prior to the launch of the first satellite.